The fact of the matter is these players haven't shown any stomach for the fight at all since Southampton barring Dhoni and in a few cases they haven't shown any in the series at all. They've been appalling bar 3 and frankly even amongst those 3 there's been plenty to be disappointed about.

Team in transition would work if they really were a team in transition but for the most part this batting line up isn't far removed from the one we faced when we toured India.

THe only positive to come out of this tour is the bowling because while Kumar has dropped off massively as the series went on he's not going to be playing any series this long so it's much less a worry about him backing up, as to whether he'll do well in Australia is another matter but from what I've seen this series, India, probably for the first time in a long time have a pace attack available to them that looks like it could do damage abroad.

They did well against the pace of Steyn and Morkel who used the kookaburra balls but have never faced the banana swing of the duke ball before.

So relax people, even Dravid took 5 years to become a class batsman. International cricket is tough.

It's like the (probably apocryphal) story of the mid-20th century Chinese communist leader who, when asked his thoughts on the impact of the French Revolution, replied that it was too soon to tell. It all depends on your perspective. I get your basic point, but some might counter by pointing out that we've become accustomed to hearing Pujara and Kohli being hailed as worthy successors to Dravid and Tendulkar, and it being taken for granted that they were guaranteed long-term fixtures in the India team, for quite a while.

On the strength of what we've seen this tour the first contention is laughable, and even the second is highly doubtful. Both have been exposed as having serious technical flaws which might potentially cut short their Test careers altogether. I would say that Kohli, who is probably rated higher because he more obviously possesses the ability to take opposition attacks apart, is the greater concern. He not only has chronic problems against seam and swing in these conditions but also often looks clueless against spin.

So I think you're deceiving yourself if you reckon it's a question of duke vs kookaburra. I can't think of a great batsman of the recent past to the present - from Lara/Tendulkar to Clarke/Amla - who has looked so utterly clueless in a series once their place has been established. The last named, for instance, struggled mightily and looked barely Test class first time out. But once he got his second chance having been dropped and properly established his place in the side he never looked back. The problem for Kohli and Pujara is that they were already established in the side before this series. The suspicion must now be that they're simply not that good.

"In 2009 he lost his old, faded India cap, when it was stolen from a ground. He was very, very upset about it. It was dear to him and he was extremely proud to wear it."

The criticism is certainly justified given the bluster and hype they arrived with, especially Kohli. This England attack shouldn't be bowling any side out for 205 or under four times in a row let alone this India side.

They did well against the pace of Steyn and Morkel who used the kookaburra balls but have never faced the banana swing of the duke ball before.

So relax people, even Dravid took 5 years to become a class batsman. International cricket is tough.

Dravid was averaging close to fifty in the 90s when there were three other batsmen averaging that across the world and averaged over 55 in every single tour outside the SC in his initial 2-3 years and often significantly more so I'm not sure where you're getting this from. (South Africa, England, NZ, WI and Zim). The first time when he was anything less than outstanding outside the SC was in Australia in 1999 three years after debut.

It didn't take five years for Dravid to establish himself as a class batsman. That or slightly later was just about when he became the second best batsman in the world after Ponting. He was class from the get go.

Seriously I think Kohli, Pujara and Rahane are all top talents but they've been disgraceful this series.

Not sure how you can classify Rahane's performance as disgraceful. Yes he's thrown away his wicket like an idiot once but his near 300 runs at 37 with a match winning century is not excellent but definitely something to work with, IMO. Basically zero useless/easy runs among those as well.

Not sure how you can classify Rahane's performance as disgraceful. Yes he's thrown away his wicket like an idiot once but his near 300 runs at 37 with a match winning century is not excellent but definitely something to work with, IMO. Basically zero useless/easy runs among those as well.

and yes the criticism of the Indian batting lineup is justified. Kohli can't buy a run, Pujara seems to be trying his hardest yet keeps notching up 21s and 17s and Rahane seems to be batting with very little application after initial success. It'd be insane to consider replacing them and all of them still have had decent/good starts to their test careers but all of them need work on their mental game/technique before Australia.